Watch for a blue moon Friday

I dare you to read this post without getting the song “Blue Moon” stuck in your head.

A blue moon in October or 2001. Looks pretty gray to me. (Getty Images)

The full moon that graces the sky Friday will be special — both in the early morning and the following night.

Maybe you’ve heard of a blue moon?

Don’t get your hopes up too high. There probably won’t be anything particularly blue about the moon Friday – it’s just an extra full moon for this month. The typical lunar cycle is about 28 or 29 days, which is why this event is pretty rare.

I’ll let NASA explain more:

For the second time this month, the Moon is about to become full. There was one full Moon on August 1st/2nd, and now a second is coming on August 31st. According to modern folklore, whenever there are two full Moons in a calendar month, the second one is “blue.”

But will the moody Moon of August 31st actually turn blue? Probably not.

Most Blue Moons look pale gray and white, indistinguishable from any other Moon you’ve ever seen. Squeezing a second full Moon into a calendar month doesn’t change the physical properties of the Moon itself, so its color remains the same.

So, modern folklore is colorblind. Got it.

NASA points out that true blue moons do occasionally happen, but that’s usually due to a volcanic eruption. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen.

As mentioned earlier, you get two chances to see this blue moon. Anthony Cook, an astronomical observer at Griffith Observatory, told the Los Angeles Times that the moon will be full when it sets Friday morning — as well as when it rises that night. He said the early-morning blue moon happens between 6:30 and 7 a.m.

It’s also worth noting that Friday’s blue moon coincides with the memorial service of Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. A fitting tribute, perhaps.